Consumer Advisory Bulletin, Beware of “Free Trial Offers”, January 2008

The Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division receives hundreds of calls and consumer complaints every year. Follow these tips to avoid unexpected expense and disappointments. This record is about: Hang Up on Telemarketing Fraud!

Consumer Advisory Bulletin, Prevent Home Repair Scams and Disputes, Mach 2008

The Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division receives hundreds of calls and consumer complaints every year. Follow these tips to avoid unexpected expense and disappointments. This record is about: Prevent Home Repair Scams and Disputes

Consumer Advisory Bulletin, Beware of Foreclosure “Rescue” Scams, April 2008

The Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division receives hundreds of calls and consumer complaints every year. Follow these tips to avoid unexpected expense and disappointments. This record is about: Beware of Foreclosure “Rescue” Scams

Bundling electronic journals and competition among publishers

Site licensing of e-journals has been revolutionizing the way academicinformation is distributed. However, many librarians are concerned aboutthe possibility that publishers might abuse site licensing by practicingbundling. In this paper, we analyze the private and social incentives forthe publishers to use bundling in the context of STM electronic journalmarket. In the short run in which the number of journals is exogenouslygiven, we find a strong conflict between the two incentives: each publisherfinds bundling optimal and bundling increases the industry profit butreduces social welfare. However, in the long run we find that publishersmight have higher incentives to introduce new journals under bundlingthan without bundling and, in this case, bundling can reduce the industryprofit while increasing social welfare. Finally, we examine publishers incentive to provide links to the websites of the rival publishers underbundling and show that even asymmetric publishers have incentive tointerconnect.

Consumer Advisory Bulletin, "Flood and Storm Warning: Be Wary of Impostors Posing as Utility Workers", June 12, 2008

The Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division receives hundreds of calls and consumer complaints every year. Follow these tips to avoid unexpected expense and disappointments. This record is about: "Look Before You Lease!"

Consumer Advisory Bulletin, The National Do Not Call List, August 2008

The Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division receives hundreds of calls and consumer complaints every year. Follow these tips to avoid unexpected expense and disappointments. This record is about: The National Do Not Call List

Consumer Advisory Bulletin, Donor Beware! November, 2008

The Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division receives hundreds of calls and consumer complaints every year. Follow these tips to avoid unexpected expense and disappointments. This record is about: Donor Beware! How to avoid charity fraud and make the most of your donations.

Handling sticky resin by stingless bees (Hymenoptera, Apidae)

For their nest defense, stingless bees (Meliponini) collect plant resins which they stick on intruders like ants or cleptobiotic robber bees causing their immobilization. The aim of this article is to identify all parts of stingless bee workers contacting these sticky resins. Of special interest are those body parts with anti-adhesive properties to resin, where it can be removed without residues. For that, extensive behavioral observations during foraging flight, handling and application of the resin have been carried out. When handling the resin, all tarsi touch the resin while walking above it. For transportation from plants to the nest during foraging flight, the resin is packed to the corbicula via tarsi and basitarsi of front and middle legs. Once stuck to the resin or after the corbicula had been unloaded, the bee's legs have to be cleaned thoroughly. Only the tips of the mandibles, that form, cut and apply the sticky resin, seem to have at least temporarily resin-rejecting properties.

Consumer Advisory Bulletin, Avoid Rapid Tax-Refund Loans December, 2008

The Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division receives hundreds of calls and consumer complaints every year. Follow these tips to avoid unexpected expense and disappointments. This record is about: Avoid Rapid Tax-Refund Loans

Consumer Advisory Bulletin, Avoid Rapid Tax-Refund Loans December, 2008

The Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division receives hundreds of calls and consumer complaints every year. Follow these tips to avoid unexpected expense and disappointments. This record is about: Avoid Rapid Tax-Refund Loans

Consumer Advisory Bulletin, Avoid Rapid Tax-Refund Loans February, 2009

The Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division receives hundreds of calls and consumer complaints every year. Follow these tips to avoid unexpected expense and disappointments. This record is about: Avoid Rapid Tax-Refund Loans

Phylogeography of Mabuya maculilabris (Reptilia) from São Tomé Island (Gulf of Guinea) inferred from mtDNA sequences

The pattern of genetic variation of the lizard Mabuya maculilabris from São Tomé Island (Gulf of Guinea) was investigated using a combination of three mitochondrial DNA gene fragments. Forty-eight haplotypes were recovered among 66 individuals covering the whole island. The genealogy inferred from the most parsimonious network of haplotypes allows us to detect two main and long branches departing from the putative group of oldest haplotypes. The tips of these branches exhibit star-like phylogenies, which may indicate of recently expanded populations, most probably from a small number of founders. A nested clade analysis suggests a complex pattern of past events that gave rise to the extant geographical pattern found in the haplotype distribution: past and allopatric fragmentation, range expansion, restricted gene Xow and long-distance dispersal. These results are consistent with the complex geological history of the island where important volcanic activity with extensive lava Xows has occurred during several periods. Mismatch- distribution analysis and AMOVA also support these conclusions. Substantial genetic structuring among these lizards was detected as well as high levels of diVerentiation between the southern edge populations (particularly those from the Rolas Islet) and the remaining ones. However, variation is low relative to the geological age of the island. Our results indicate that patterns of variation observed in reptiles in other oceanic islands are not indicative of those observed in the islands of the Gulf of Guinea.

Consumer Advisory Bulletin, “Phishing” Scams Use New Tricks March, 2009

The Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division receives hundreds of calls and consumer complaints every year. Follow these tips to avoid unexpected expense and disappointments. This record is about: “Phishing” Scams Use New Tricks

Consumer Advisory Bulletin, Prevent Home Repair Scams and Disputes, April 2009

The Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division receives hundreds of calls and consumer complaints every year. Follow these tips to avoid unexpected expense and disappointments. This record is about: Prevent Home Repair Scams and Disputes

Consumer Advisory Bulletin, Prevent Identity Theft Take Control of Your Personal Information, May 2009

The Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division receives hundreds of calls and consumer complaints every year. Follow these tips to avoid unexpected expense and disappointments. This record is about: Prevent Identity Theft Take Control of Your Personal Information